Heathrow Airport Closure: Resilience and Security

Lord Katz Excerpts

Wednesday 26th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I do not take that point at all. Clearly, Heathrow had a resilience plan. One of the points of the investigations is to see how effective it is, and we are mindful of the impact the closure had on thousands of people. The noble Baroness knows that the Government believe that we need to expand Heathrow. It is a hugely important asset to the United Kingdom, but we have to make sure that any expansion is in line with our legal, environmental and climate obligations.

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

My Lords, on the subject of resilience, businesses and local councils, such as Ealing and Hounslow in west London, have long raised concerns about a lack of capacity and resilience frustrating their plans for growth. As I am sure my noble friend the Minister is aware, this was highlighted by the National Infrastructure Commission’s recent report on electricity distribution networks, in which it cited network constraints in west London brought about by the otherwise welcome installation of data centres—as we have already heard. Does my noble friend agree that we need to reverse the hopeless record on infrastructure investment by the previous Government and invest in a decent, future-proof grid which can cope with better growth for Heathrow and with homes and businesses in west London?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right; this Government are having to invest huge amounts into the infrastructure, which was neglected by the party opposite for years. He is right about the National Infrastructure Commission. It produced a report in February that said that, with demand for electricity set to double by 2050, the current pace of additional investment in the country’s electrical distribution networks needs to double. We are giving that earnest consideration.